If you’re just tuning in, my BF Michael and I just spent a thrilling one-month workcation in the fabulous city of Paris. This is the second installment of three that details our trip. This post is all about how we spent our time. But first a little geography…
You might be aware that Paris is set up into twenty numbered sections called arrondissments. These twenty sections are arranged in the form of snail shell starting from the middle of the city and going in a clockwise spiral outwards. We were excited to be on the border of the 2nd and 3rd Arrondissments. Settling into our sumptuous flat took practically no time at all.
If you’re a Never Been, a Dying To Go, a Parisian Neophyte, or a Total Francophile our homebase was situated on the Right Bank, north of the Seine, about five minutes walking distance from the famous Le Centre Pompidou. Our specific area was hip Sainte-Avoye, part of the lively Marais district, where trendy restaurants line narrow streets amid cafés, art galleries, and a few stylish hotels. It was very neighborhoody and we didn’t feel like tourists at all sandwiched between what had to be the busiest local coffee shop in Paris, a trendy karaoke bar, and a store that hosted gaming competitions and sold board games.
We picked this neighborhood because it was centrally located, walking distance from so many amazing sights and notable restaurants, and super close to three different Metro stops. Every day when the alarm clock buzzed I got up like a shot. (Yes, initially to scratch my horrific mosquito bites but once they faded it was all green lights and not a single scar!) How exciting to wake up in Paris and dive right into fun activities instead of sliding into work mode? I was loving the schedule flip. After doing so much research on what I wanted to see, do, buy, and eat and of course conferring with Michael on my wish list and his, each morning we planned to conquer as much as possible, ensuring that we made it back to the apartment by 3pm, allowing for the six-hour time differential to begin east coast working hours.
After a quick Parisian breakfast of hot baguette and French butter (such a simple pleasure but so so good!) and of course a coffee for him, a typical day for us was leaving the flat before 9am and walking toward a specific destination like Musée d’Orsay or the southern end of the Marais district or my most favorite department store, Le Bon Marche. Due to the time difference, our phones were mostly quiet during the day which gave us the chance to really be in the moment and not be tempted by incoming pings.
We would get a feel for the neighborhood, do some shopping, visit a museum, pick up a treat or two, take pictures, and then stop for a delicious lunch at an outdoor café regardless of the weather. Then we’d scramble back to the apartment just before the stroke of 3. We would break at 7pm local time (1pm back home) to enjoy dinner together either at the flat with delicious takeout we picked up during the day, or we would pop into a neighborhood brasserie for a quiet dinner. Then it was back to work until quitting time at 11pm. It was an amazing schedule.
I have to admit that during the trip, I was bitten by the Parisian shopping bug of wanting to buy luxury brands made in France. It just seemed so important to donate to “local businesses” while I was there!
It did become a bit of a frenzy, too. So much so that I found myself lining up to get into the famed leather goods company Goyard on a cloudy Friday at 9:36am, a full twenty-four minutes before the doors even opened. I took my shameful spot as the fifteenth one on line… until an additional forty or so folks queued up behind me. After more than ninety minutes outside (yes I was chilly and felt stupid) and twelve or less minutes spent inside (I’m super-efficient), I left empty handed. A steamer trunk was out of my Mediterranean-summer-yachting-on-the-South-of-France reach (yep, so’s the yacht) and they were sold out of every other item that might have been on my what-if-I-stretch-myself budget.
I did have a bit of luck at the completely refurbed department store La Samaritaine with some shiny loafers at a thirty percent discount plus the VAT tax back. Compared to what I would have spent on those exact same sold-out shoes on Fifth Avenue at home I actually felt like a was getting a bargain. (What is the word in French for brainwashed??)
Other stores I loved were Merci for housewares, kitchenware, travel accessories, jewelry, and bath products, Leclaireur for their incredible display of merchandise, avant-garde designers, and exclusive brands, The Conran Shop for whimsical gifts, towels, lighting, furniture, and books, and Fleux for candles, reusable shopping bags, fancy serveware, chocolate bars, and posters.
I couldn’t get enough of Sweet Pants for their super soft sweatshirts in a rainbow of colors, E. Dehillerin for their incredible selection of high-quality chef’s knives and kitchen staples, and Goossens for amazing gold plated costume jewelry.
I frequented L’Appartement Sezane for unique sweaters, Printemps for their gorgeous holiday window displays, Le Bon Marche for their spectacular selection of scarves, shoes, gifts, indie brands, cosmetics, and hats, and La Grande Épicerie de Paris for their astounding selection of breads, fish, soups, prepared foods, cookies, desserts, mustards, bubbly, and chocolate.
To combat the feeling of wallet strain but still wanting to have a little luxury retail fun, we capitalized on the chance to hit the outlet stores just outside of Paris. (Can you believe France has outlets? Yep, they do!) We were so fortunate to have a few American friends visiting while we were there so we invited them to join us. Janey is a black belt shopper and her hubby Steve is a sit, schmooze, smile, and schlep the goodies kind of guy. It worked out great! We piled into a cushy van (minus our pal Scott who had his own solo visual and culinary adventure planned) and went in style, chatting the whole time. Not only did we have major luck at the gorgeous you-know-all-the-names stores, we enjoyed an amazing lunch at La Valleé Village, too. No wonder the French are known for the expression “joie de vivre,” which means joy of life. It was a fabulous day!
And these visiting friends I mentioned aren’t just pals, they are also business associates of mine who were in town for work reasons. So I planned an official business dinner at Robert et Louise to talk turkey where I enjoyed make your own French onion soup and a tasty steak. We fought over and devoured the warm chocolate brownie before I could take a snap… but use your imagination. It was delicious!
They returned the favor by inviting both me and Michael another night to mix and mingle at an unofficial Snail and Sauerkrautfest at Bofinger with European locals and visiting domestics in town for a conference. We had a blast! Scott and I managed an impromptu dinner for just us two to talk podcast, travel and making the most of all opportunities. And I was happily able to sneak in a little international networking myself at a local Paris event that my company sanctioned. (How cool?) We even had our pals up to the flat to check out our digs. (Thank goodness Michael vacuumed!)
Michael planned his share of social activities for us, too. Since he lived and worked in Paris for fifteen years, he had a few compatriots still in town with whom he wanted to visit. Lucky me tagged along. We dined at the decadent les 110 de Taillevent with his friend Rémi, a retired sales exec and passionate singer. The food was absolutely exquisite! The insanely magnificent gougères to begin our meal blew me away. (Think French cheese popovers.)
I love that Rémi used the word “gorgeous” synonymously with delicious. As in, “Those potatoes are simply gorgeous!” And indeed they were. The standout of our meal was the warm chocolate mousse. It was truly one of the best desserts I’ve ever had. I invited Michael’s spoon over for a taste of mine as he ordered the tasty but not my style cheese plate. (I’ll never quite understand cheese for dessert? I have to end on something sweet!)
Anyway you know how they say that you’re supposed to go to Paris to fall in love? Well Michael did… with my dessert. He was audibly enamored from that very first mouthful. You’d have thought that the man had completely lost his mind for a moment based on the inappropriate oooohs and ahhhs that escaped his lips. (I was remembering my Mom devouring the apple tarte Tatin at the famed Parisian brasserie Le Grand Colbert when I visited with her some years back. Like my Mom, Michael had his hand over his heart and made the same AH! noise over and over. It was hilarious!!) He proclaimed his love on the spot. The mousse was warm, fluffy, melty, not too sweet, textural with body but smooth. The outstanding pudding like bowl was served with a chilly scoop of silky chocolate gelato on top. It was truly heavenly. And after that they delivered courtesy madeleines to the table. OMG.
We had such a great visit with Rémi (and the mousse) that he (Rémi) invited us to attend his holiday choir recital. They were performing an evening of Christmas carols at The American Cathedral in Paris. We quickly accepted his kind invite. We were joined in the landmark church by his uncle and his very pregnant daughter Juliette and delighted by the entire program. Remi was dazzling and the choir of eighty strong and accompanying orchestra were superb. What a treat! (And congrats to Juliette on the birth of her new baby boy! And to Rémi for being a new grandfather!)
We also lunched at the famed Brasserie Lipp with his pal Nicolas who was friendly with the chef. Nic and Michael used to work together and they had lots of catching up to do in French so I happily gazed out the window, marveling at the street traffic on the Boulevard Saint-Germain while they chatted. I had a bird’s eye view of Café de Flore, too! My roasted chicken and frites were delish and the chef even popped by our table for a quick hello. Nic was telling us about his house renovations and showed us all sorts of in progress pictures. Lunch was great fun.
I purposely saved a few vacation days for the trip, but sadly Michael had to work. So when I was alone, I visited Musée Picasso which was fabulous. The space felt so intimate and really allowed the audience to get up close with the art. I loved that there were very limited tickets per hour which enriched the individual experience. Afterwards I walked practically every single street in the Marais district. I got to see all of the 3rd and became wise to the winding streets, fabulous cafés and inviting shops. So much so that I was even able to give directions to a tourist!
Other days I just picked a neighborhood to get a little lost or hit up Galeries Lafayette to do a floor-by-floor deep dive. I learned most of the Metro system and felt comfortable bopping around town solo. I felt independent and elated. And I had a juicy amount of free time so I was able to write to my heart’s content. I’ve always wanted to be a travel and food author and well… after these Paris blogs publish, I’ve decided that I can officially call myself an international food critic. Woohoo!
When Michael and I were together, we visited Musée d’Orsay to marvel at the masters. (Van Gogh always steals my heart.) Did you know that this museum is built inside an old train station? No way!! We both loved Monet and he was partial to Renoir. We popped into the Le Centre Pompidou gift shop, choosing to spend time perusing the takeaways this time and not traipsing up the bubbled escalators to see the actual exhibits. We clinked weekend glasses of champagne together and enjoyed cozy restaurant tables where we huddled together. Our nights on the town were so romantic!
We visited King Louis XIV’s crib, the Palace of Versailles and wow! That dude must have loved his reflection with all of those mirrors. In fall even the grounds were magnificent. We took sweeping snaps of the city from the roof of Galeries Lafayette and had fun near the glittering Eiffel Tower and mixing with the boisterous crowds near the Arc de Triomphe amongst the twinkling lights on the Champs-Élysées. And we loved 59 Rivoli, a multi-level working art collective.
We viewed La Galerie Dior together too and just loved the visually stunning exhibit about the fashion house of Christian Dior spread out over so many gorgeous floors of the mansion. The breathtaking array of color themed accessories circled the spiral staircase and drew us right in. Dior offered what they called a “gourmet pause” at the end of the gallery visit. So we stopped by to share one mug of hot chocolate. And I didn’t even look at the menu when I ordered because it was after 2pm and we had to motor back to the flat for work. Big mistake. OMG. Fifteen Euros for one hot chocolate? That was more expensive that the cost of my admission ticket!
To be fair, we did have chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) from just about every restaurant that offered it—which was most since in France it’s a menu staple. (God I fit right in!)
I dined mostly on club sandwiches, roasted chicken, Caesar salads, Cobb salads, omelets, a great Croque Madame with chicken instead of ham, quiche, falafel, burgers, veggie salads, cheese, and a ton of French fries.
Michael was decidedly more French, feasting on steak tartar, veal blanquette, and a variety of pork products. And of course he fed his caffeine addiction with daily doses of café crème and double espressos.
During the whole trip we ate almost nothing out of a package… save for a few scrumptious butter cookies from La Grande Epicerie. Everything was fresh and delicious. We had lots of fruit and veggies from the local purveyor and we were especially impressed by the assortment of specialty breads and glorious pastries. Paris has a never-ending choice of boulangeries and pâtisseries, chocolatiers, and cafés.
NYC might have a ton of fabulous restaurants and arguably the best pizza, bagels, cookies, and burger choices on the planet (I’m sure due in no small part to our world renown water!) but Paris has a food culture unmatched by any place I’ve ever been. They have perfected the art of the sip—having a coffee last a few hours in a café. The leisurely drink—cocktails with friends for half of the evening. Hot, fresh baguettes are available everywhere, made daily and they are so inexpensive. And locals view sweets as an important end to every meal. So the residents support all those pastry shops and chocolate stores. Mustard is served standard with every meal. Yum. (These people really are my people– except the smokers! Yuck.)
We loved the gourmet food stalls on Rue Cler in the 7th and checked out every single restaurant, cheese monger, cookie seller and pâté maker on Rue Montorgueil in the 2nd. We hopped right over to Rue du Nil and discovered Frenchie to Go for great hot dogs (thanks, Ina!), PLAQ Chocolat, and Boulangerie-Pâtisserie Terroirs d’Avenir. We enjoyed the specialty bread artisans in the 11th and hunted down ice cream from Berthillon in the 16th! We donated tzedakah to the Jewish quarter in the 3rd by buying cheesecake, and onion rolls with lox from Korcarz, and falafel platters and pita sandos. We browsed the 6th and loved every foodie paradise on Rue du Bac—especially Des Gâteaux et du Pain Saint Germain.
To say we walked the city end to end is an understatement… we also took the Bateaux Mouches to view the sights from a famed Seine boat ride!
Wandering the streets, neighborhoods and arrondissments let us experience all the nooks and crannies of Paris. The tiny stores, the four-seater coffee bars, specialty chocolate shops, pop up shops, leather goods designers, clothing stores that have small cafés in the back, and so many hidden gems. We loved every street, every bite, every experience, and every sunrise every day.
Sadly we never made it into Cedric Grolet for pastries because the dang line was just too long. But we were able to enjoy his fabulous XXL Hazelnut Cookie courtesy of our generous friends Janey and Steve. It was hazelnut cookie dough, hazelnut praline, fleur de sel, caramel, Alain Ducasse hazelnut paste, and caramelized hazelnuts. Utterly divine! (We will definitely catch ya next time, CR.)
And that very last pâtisserie completed the bible of sorts that formed a Paris guide for us to use on future visits. This trip was really a dream come true. I’m proud (and exhausted) to say that we hit every attraction on my list and his, even with a ton of additions. The only reason we missed some of the restaurants I selected is because I chose more cafés than we had meals available!
jenslittleblackbook.com 